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"American Playhouse" Into the Woods (1991)
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| Index | 34 reviews in total |
11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Brilliance, sheer brilliance, 5 July 2001
Author:
jweatherford27 from Lexington KY
I loved every minute of it. Bernadette Peters was spectacular, of course everyone has given her a large amount of praise for her performance, but she deserves it, she was the one that stood out above the rest! The best part about Into The Woods is that you can watch it again and again, and it still doesn't get old, and you're still catching minor detales that you missed from the first viewing. This is a definate must for fans of the theatre, and for everybody else.
10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
not necessarily appropriate for children..., 17 June 2003
Author:
weymo
My wife and I have enjoyed the soundtrack and associated book form of this musical for years. Alas, we were never able to enjoy it on broadway. We knew there was a bit of innuendo involved but that it was fairly out of the range of our 8 year old daughter. However, when we rented the DVD of this live performance, my eyebrows were raised quite quickly when Red Riding Hood comes upon the Wolf. The Wolf is, how should I say, amazingly anatomically correct for a man, let alone a wolf. The tone of the whole play really isn't for kids but the rest of it seems okay. My daughter enjoyed the music and made comments about the crude special effects. But the parents understand that the effects are just for effect and that the real power of this musical is in the story. It tugs just a little harder than one would expect at the heartstrings. I was amazed at the number of real tears shed by the cast...and that emotion is just a real today as a decaded ago. Oh. And Bernadette...best witch ever.
9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
What happens after "Happily ever after?", 2 March 2004
Author:
Will_Scarlet from Washington, D.C.
One of the great Stephen Sondheim's last great musicals combines four
favorite
fairy tales to make one classical epic: "Cinderella," "Jack & The
Beanstalk,"
"Little Red Riding-Hood," and "Rapunzel." A fifth story is, of course,
needed to
bind them together, which comes here in the story of a poor baker and his
wife
who wish for a child, and to get it, strike a bargain with a witch to fetch
the
ingredients for a potion: "The cow as white as milk, the cape as red as
blood, the
hair as yellow as corn, and the slippers as pure as gold." The baker rescues
Red Riding-Hood from the wolf and is rewarded with her cloak, and then sells
the beans to Jack for his cow, while his wife plucks a hair from Rapunzel in
her
tower, and relieves Cinderella of her last shoe, since she is having trouble
escaping in one high-heeled slipper. Over the first act, we see the stories
unfold
just as we know them from our childhood, ending with "Happily ever after."
In the
second act, however, the characters' continuing stories are shown as not as
happy as we thought. Cinderella and Rapunzel's princes have lost their
hearts'
desires in the having of them, and start chasing after Sleeping Beauty and
Snow
White. Red Riding-Hood has become obsessed with killing wolves, and
defending herself. Rapunzel, simultaneously missing her Witch-mother and
hating her, has moments of hysteria. As for the Baker, he feels insecure as
a
father, and his wife wishes their house were bigger. And the Giant's wife
comes
down another beanstalk to get revenge on Jack for murdering her husband.
Disaster strikes when, in desparation, the characters sacrifice the Narrator
to the
Giant, and thus destroy the person keeping the stories in order. Chaos
ensues
as the black and white so well divided before flow together. Heroes lie,
Witches
are right, Giants are good, heroes die. But still, the characters are able
to stay
together and defeat the giant and resolve their stories on their own. The
moral of
the story is simple: Learn from the stories, but don't live by them, as sung
by the
legendary Bernadette Peters as the Witch. She proves amazingly good at
playing the hideous old crone, and later becomes more of a Gothic beauty,
more suited to her beautiful voice and fantastic acting skills (Last
Midnight, who
would have thought a waltz could be so chilling?) The rest of the original
Broadway cast is also fabulous. Danielle Ferland is delightful as Red
Riding-
Hood, a Shirley Temple with a delightful mean streak. Robert Westenberg
makes the Prince funny and sad, and as the Wolf, brings out the lustful
undertones of the character, and Chip Zien and Joanna Gleason evoke
memories of Desi and Lucy as the married couple, while Kim Crosby is a
surprisingly independent Cinderella. All the cast sings one of Sondheim's
strongest scores, and brings the musical into the range of
10/10.
6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
A Great Musical, 26 April 2000
Author:
gws-2 from United States
We owe Sondheim a debt of gratitude for allowing this stage performance of "Into the Woods" to be Filmed. It is filled with outstanding performances (Joanna Gleason won a Toni). Sondheim's words and music move us back and forth between laughter and tears. "Into the Woods" is the ultimate fractured fairy tale: traditional fairy tales are mixed together and then filtered through the lens of late 20th Century reality. Wonderful stuff
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Another Stunning Achievement from the mind of Stephen Sondheim...., 16 April 2008
Author:
Isaac5855 from United States
INTO THE WOODS is a musically intricate and enchanting musical from the man who brought us COMPANY,A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC,FOLLIES, Sunday IN THE PARK WITH GEOGRE and SWEENEY TODD. Sondheim, Broadway's finest lyricist, has once again struck gold with this clever and complex story that incorporates characters from several different classic fairy tales in a mystical blend that might make the Brothers Grimm roll over in their graves but will leave fans of this musical genius clamoring for more. This musical follows the adventures of a poor Baker and his wife, who want to have a child more than anything and are promised a child by an evil witch, with secrets of her own, if they can bring her Little Red Riding Hood's Cape, Cinderella's slipper, the cow belonging to Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk fame and a lock of Rapunzel's hair and it is their journey into the fairy tale forest to find these items that provides the plot for this delightfully imaginative musical. As always, Sondheim has provided us with lush melodies and intricate musical arrangements where characters sing on top of each other and it is virtually impossible to catch everything that is being sung, but for us Sondheim-aholics, this is half the fun, requiring careful attention and multiple viewings. This DVD is a taping of a performance by the original Broadway cast, led by the divine Bernadette Peters as the Witch. Hidden behind heavy makeup for the first act, Peters proves to be a gifted actress as well as the consummate song stylist. Peters stops the show with "Children Will Listen" and "Last Midnight". Joanna Gleason won a Tony for her effervescent turn as the Baker's wife and Chip Zien is beautifully paired with her as the Baker. There are also outstanding supporting performances from Robert Westenberg in two roles as the Wolf and Cinderella's Prince, Danielle Ferland as Little Red Riding Hood, Kim Crosby as Cinderella, and Ben Wright as Jack. Other musical highlights include "Agony" a funny yet melodic duet between the two princes, "On the Steps of the Palace" sung by Cinderella, "Hello Little Girl", the musical meeting between Red Riding Hood and the Wolf" and Gleason's show stopping "Moments in the Woods". A thoroughly original and lushly theatrical musical that provides another testament to the genius that is Stephen Sondheim.
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Broadway's most magical and essential musical, 5 February 2006
Author:
goldoro99 from United States
"Into the Woods" never became the stuff of legend like "Hair" or "West Side Story", and it never became a commercial blockbuster like practically every Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Perhaps this is because of its length--three hours, on average--perhaps because of the fairy-tales-go-to-hell subject matter. People don't usually like to see what happens after "happily ever after," but it's one of the most cogent and powerful lessons of "Into the Woods," the best of all Broadway musicals. It's comical, serious, joyous, poignant, mystical, accessible, you name it. It's got an intricate plot, complex and sympathetic characters, and the most rich and rapturous score ever to grace the professional stage. Thank you so much, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine, for this wonderful gift.
3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Wonderful Musical That Really Explores "Happily Ever After", 16 September 2005
Author:
domino1003 from East Texas, USA
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Stephen Sondheim's "Into The Woods" has a wonderful premise, wonderful
music and a universal premise: be careful what you wish for, you just
might get it. The film takes place in the forest where The Baker (Chip
Zien) and his wife (Joanna Gleason)want a child. Unfortunately, due to
a curse placed on his home by the witch (Bernadette Peters), this
doesn't happen. Only if they complete a task put on them by the witch
can the curse be removed. They go on a journey "into the woods" to find
4 items: The cow as white as milk, The cape as red as blood, the hair
as yellow as corn and the slipper as pure as gold. The 2 of them are
not alone in their quest to have their wishes granted: Jack (Ben
Wright),whose cow he has to sell for food; Little Red Riding Hood
(Danielle Ferland)is on her way to visit her grandmother; Rapunzel
(Pamela Winslow)lowers her corn-yellow hair so the witch can climb it:
and Cinderella (Kim Crosby)desperately wants to attend the ball and
gets her gown and beautiful slippers. Through a series of intertwining
events, everyone gets what they wish for.
It isn't until the second part of the musical when things get dark.
With everyone's wishes granted, not everyone is living "Happily Ever
After". Many of the characters are totally unhappy. And with the
arrival of a visitor from the past that is seeking vengeance on one of
the inhabitants, things turn tragic.
The songs are incredible (Especially "Children Will Listen," "Last
Midnight." and "No One Is Alone."),the costumes and scenery are great,
and all of the stars shine. But it is Gleason and Peters that really
shine in their roles. The musical will have you laughing and crying. A
must have.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
into the woods...and home before dark!, 7 July 2006
Author:
Oliver Page (oliverpage547@googlemail.com) from United Kingdom
I've loved this since i was a kid. the concept is great and so are the songs. Placiong together stories and characters for various fairy tales and creating something completely new to me is just genius. Some of the characters are hilarious and others are really believable such as the wolf and Prince charming. The songs are also brilliantly written and performed. One of the main strengths of this show was that everybody could act well and sing better. My personal favourites are the two songs done by the two princes 'Agony'. And of course the song sung by the Wolf when hes planning his evil idea for Red Riding Hood, 'that kind of scrumptious delectable feast twice in one day...there's no possible way...to describe how you feel...when your talking to your meal!!!'. Anyway back to the original point this show is amazing and really worth watching, and also don't write it off as a silly kids show because most of the jokes and quirky remarks are written for adults.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
My favorite of all time., 16 December 1999
Author:
Toddaroo (toddsky81@aol.com) from New York
This is by far one of my favorite Broadway shows ever. Bernadette Peters is absolutely unparalleled on the stage, Sondheim and Lapine have pulled off another masterpiece, and Joanna Gleason TOTALLY deserved her Tony award for this. In my mind, this musical was far superior to the one that beat it out for 1989 Best Musical (Phantom of the Opera). Anyone who liked this would like "The School for Scandal", which stars Barbara Bryne (Jack's Mother). I suggest you check it out.
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Enchanting, 9 February 2004
Author:
dburdett from California
Into the Woods is a show that will make you appreciate and love Broadway. If you have ever seen this show done by anyone else and compared it to Broadway, You have a very long critic coming your way. This magical fairy tale will be one you will always remember and is as close to perfect as you can get in a show.
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